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MVRDV to make its 2000 World Expo site in Hannover a co-working space

Dutch architect MVRDV designed the Netherlands Pavilion at the 2000 World Expo in Hannover, Germany, and will now turn it into a co-working office building, with two new buildings added to either side.

The larger of the two new buildings will be nine storeys above ground, with 370 apartments for students, with the lowest level containing 300 bike parking spaces.

The smaller building has five above-ground levels and one basement level, with the top three storeys containing offices and meeting rooms, the other levels containing parking for the development.

The theme for the 2000 pavilion was "Holland Creates Space", and it had six Dutch landscapes stacked in a tower on a small portion of the site.

The pavilion’s 3rd floor forest will remain along with the ground-level "dunes", which will become a gathering point with small cafés and exhibition areas.

The first floor originally housed a grid of greenhouses. It will retain its layout, but will be used as an office, while the second floor will be converted into meeting rooms and office spaces.

The restaurant located on the rooftop dome will become a "fast casual" restaurant.

MVRDV says the redesign maintains the "stacked landscape" concept, with the two new buildings forming stepped perimeter blocks towards the edge of the site, around the pavilion and landscaped courtyard.

MVRDV said rent revenue from the new buildings would enable the renovation of the original pavilion.

Jacob van Rijs, MVRDV, said: "It’s such an exciting opportunity for us to revisit this early project of ours that we first worked on over twenty years ago.

"The original design was certainly a unique design for a very specific purpose, but despite its outspoken design its core structure is highly reusable and more flexible than originally imagined.

"The differences between the floors will be maintained and converted into a functional office environment that nevertheless retains the unique experimental features of the Expo Pavilion. You will be able to work on the dunes, or in the forest, or between the treepots."

Images courtesy of MVRDV

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